We were able to see a screening of the movie last weekend filled
with families — probably the best audience with which to gauge
the film. The kids loved it, the adults seemed to enjoy it,
and we had a blast also.

"The LEGO Movie" follows Emmet (Chris Pratt) as he
tries to stop the evil President Business (Will Ferrell) from
destroying the LEGO world with a mysterious weapon named
"Kragle." (Spoiler: It's Krazy
Glue.)

Warner Bros. is so sure the movie will do well that it already
announced plans for a sequel. It's not difficult to see
why. This could very well be a lucrative animated franchise for
the studio.

Here's why "The LEGO Movie" should crush it this weekend at
theaters:

1. Appeals to both boys and girls

(First row: Elizabeth
Banks as Wildstyle, Will Arnett as Batman. Second row: Will
Ferrell as President/Lord Business, Morgan Freeman as
Vitruvius.)Courtesy Warner
Bros.

While "Frozen" may have sneakily got boys into theater seats with
its clever marketing (it's really a girl-power
film), "The LEGO Movie" caters to both audiences with a wide
range of characters.

Elizabeth Banks offers a strong female lead in the form of tough,
no nonsense Wildstyle. Young boys will be taken with the
appearance of Batman (Will Arnett) — during a late night
appearance earlier this week on David Letterman, Arnett
said his kids were already referring to the film as the "Batman:
LEGO Movie."

This was probably the smartest move Warner Bros. could ask for
given the Caped Crusader's popularity in both video games and
Christopher Nolan's "Dark Knight" trilogy.

The movie contains a mix of new and classic nostalgic LEGOS for
an older audience to appreciate. Moviegoers may recognize
space-themed LEGO sets they played with from the late '70s and
early '80s on screen. Older viewers will also want to look out
for humorous one-liners that will go over kid's heads. Arnett
makes a few clever asides as Batman.

However, it's the end of the film that will really resonate with
adults, bringing up the question of whether LEGOs are toys
or collector's items meant for display. (It's a topic that keen
eyes will remember was addressed in "Toy Story 2" and works also
in this "toy story.")

Major spoiler:In an unexpected
twist, the film removes itself from the animated world to
reveal that the entire movie is the construct of a young boy's
imagination. He sneaks down into the basement of his house to
play with his father's (played by Will Ferrell!) elaborate LEGO
collection that is permanently held together by Krazy
Glue.MAJOR SPOILER

3. Smart marketing

Batman appears in nearly
every trailer for "The LEGO Movie.”Courtesy of Warner Bros.

Theaters have had giant LEGO replicas of its main characters
including the Caped Crusader in movie theaters.

LEGOs have always been a popular toy, not only for the nostalgic
factor with parents, but also the educational value in the
individual sets.

Since 1997, in addition to selling brick sets, LEGO has put out a
successful line of companion video games to popular movie
franchises from "Harry Potter" to "Batman" and "Lord of the
Rings." The Lego Batman series alone has sold
14.4 million copies as of last year.

It isn't Oscar-nominated "Let
It Go" from "Frozen," but kids will definitely walk out of
the theater singing "Everything is Awesome."

The lyrics aren't groundbreaking — Everything
is awesome / Everything is cool when you're part of a team /
Everything is awesome / When we're living our dream —
but they are upbeat, send a positive message that parents will be
okay with, and are undeniably infectious.

Listen to a preview of the song from the opening sequence of the
film below. Just seeing the animated world of Legos on screen is,
well, awesome.

Update: Fandango announced it anticipates
the film to be its second largest advance ticket-seller for
animated films behind "Toy Story 3" (2010). That film went on to
make $110.3 million opening weekend. "The LEGO Movie" also passed
advanced ticket sales for Disney’s “Frozen” and “Monsters
University” which made $67.4 million and $82.4 million upon
debut respectively.

While “The LEGO Movie” may not reach those sort of numbers,
estimates for the weekend — now hovering above $60 million — could still
be well under par.